Tier of Being
The entities of the multiverse are divided into tiers. This classification serves as a rough estimate of the comparative power held by the beings of each tier, though the exact type of power the being makes use of may cause them to appear above or below their supposed station. Ordinals The ordinal of a tier serves as the primary measurement of a being's power. An entity cannot create or harm a being of a higher ordinal than itself. Changing Ordinals In some cases, an entity that is sufficiently weakened can drop to a lower ordinal. Restoring such an entity is very difficult, but it can be done. However, an entity can never be raised to a higher ordinal than it was at the moment of its creation. The few special cases in which a certain being appears to ascend are technically regarded as the creation of a new being with a previously existent being used as an ingredient (such cases require the power of a higher ordinal). Deities "Deity" is the highest sub-category within each tier. A deity has the full power of its ordinal, theoretically able to create and harm any entity of its own ordinal or of a lower one. Remnants A remnant is an entity created from the scraps of a destroyed entity of its own ordinal or higher. Remnants exist in highly diverse forms, and the powers they wield vary. If a remnant is able to create or harm other entities, those entities will be of a lower ordinal than the remnant. A remnant may also be able to harm entities of its own ordinal, but this capability tends to be conditional. Adjacents Adjacents are the lowest sub-category of a tier. In most respects, they would be classified as the ordinal below theirs. The only reason for a being to be upgraded to the next ordinal as an adjacent is if it is found that beings of the ordinal it is upgraded from cannot harm it. For instance, individual humanoids are classified as third-tier adjacents. This does not imply they hold the power of a third-tier deity, as this would not be accurate; it merely expresses that fourth-tier entities are incapable of harming humanoids. †Normally only under the right circumstances. ‡Adjacents can harm other adjacents of their own ordinal, just not remnants or deities. History Originally, the ordinals were defined as follows: # Far more powerful than humanity. # Roughly equivalent in power to humanity. # Far less powerful than humanity. The first ordinal and term "deity" were widely regarded as synonyms. Remnants and adjacents were not recognized as categories. The differences between the original tier model and the current tier model are the result of changes made over time in light of new information. The Divine Succession Following the uprising in Espere against Ameya and Dubain, the definition of the first tier needed to be reexamined. During the period of confusion among scholars, divination magic revealed Hahskushahn and glimpses of an incomprehensible being who far surpassed even the known deities of the Material Plane. In light of these new data, the existing ordinals were downgraded to make room for a new first tier, and the classification of "remnant" came into common use. Humanity was theorized to be a first-tier remnant, rendering the previous definitions of the ordinals obsolete. In practice, getting the entirety of humanity to work as one proves very difficult, so their first-tier classification remains untested as of yet.